


Still

by crunchy



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 03:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13695957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crunchy/pseuds/crunchy
Summary: Rey can't sleep.





	Still

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AzhaLambrin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzhaLambrin/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy!

Rey lay awake in her quarters, staring at the lines in the dull grey ceiling for quite some time. As she traced each line she took deep, meditative breaths to try and calm her nerves. The ship smelled new but the fear of destruction while she slept remained. Her fear, although ridiculous, felt too real to ignore. Somewhere out there Kylo Ren probably seethed and craved revenge against her.

The bond never faded- in fact, it only seemed to strengthen. Every once and a while he'd make an appearance and Rey would either fight the bond or outright ignore Kylo as he pleaded, then begged and finally growled at her. Each time he spat his venom at her, Rey still felt pain- his pain. He never meant his words when he'd tell her he'd destroy her, did he? Each time she saw him, his face fell further into depression and it was beginning to destroy Rey. Ben was still there. But he's trapped behind a past and a mask and needs to be set free. Rey couldn’t give up on him no matter what he said. 

Rey sighed and rolled onto her side. Only one week ago she and a handful of Resistance members barely escaped the First Order. She felt the passing of Luke Skywalker, a legend and a hero to the end, she discovered a bond and prophesy with her supposed enemy and limited her interaction with him for a short time, and she'd begun to understand her powers all in the span of a couple of days. Rey was glad to be off Jakku, but sometimes she missed the simplicity of her old life. But in such a short time she'd gained her freedom, a purpose and a family and she'd never trade that for anything. 

The air stilled and Rey groaned as she sat up "Now's not the ti-" she stood up from her bed and looked across her room to find another, large bed with what seemed to be one fidgeting occupant. Rey hesitantly approached, as if her movement would wake the slumbering giant.

It was Kylo, uncomfortably asleep and fidgety. Rey watched his sleeping face with a familiar feeling in her heart. She then shook her head and sighed. Standing over Kylo Ren as he slept was not how Rey planned to spend her night. However, she couldn’t look away. She studied his sleeping face to find it crinkled into a pained look. Rey sat on the force-projected bed and observed Kylo's tremors and recognized that he was having a nightmare.

"Ben..." 

When Rey noticed the sweat beading on his forehead, she stood and brought a towel from her personal locker back to the bed. She brushed the moist locks of hair that stuck to his face "What are you dreaming of?" Rey whispered as she dabbed his forehead carefully. As she set the towel aside she heard Kylo groaning and watched him jerk his head side to side. "Ben!" She exclaimed gently as she rested her hand gently on his bare shoulder, the one that she scarred herself. 

Once he began calming, Rey mindlessly brought her hand to cup the cheek opposite from her and suddenly, she wasn't in her room anymore. All around Rey was smoke, children and young adults screaming and fighting each other, and in the distance a building raged with flames. 

"Luke Skywalker's academy," Rey breathed. It was the night that changed Ben. Frantically, Rey searched for Ben in the crowd of lightsabers and death. 

Rey heard a recognizable voice scream into the night as the fighting quickly came to a close with a final death. Rey spotted Ben Solo, younger and much angrier. He stormed through the remnants of the battlefield, passing over bodies of the ones who perished. "Skywalker was an old man scared of power," he started, addressing all those who stood in silence around him "he turned on me, his only nephew, because he was scared of my strength," 

Rey noticed the white-knuckled fists, the rage in his face and voice and tears nearly welling in his eyes, but still she recognized the same mask he still wore over his pain today. This must have been the moment Ben Solo adopted the Kylo Ren persona. On Jakku, Rey heard that Kylo Ren was fearless, intimidating and so powerful, he was rumored to be stronger than Darth Vader. When Rey actually met the man, she hated him. She hated Kylo Ren for all he'd done. But she knew the truth about him now. Painted a villain and outcasted by his own family, manipulated and tortured.

Rey was brought back to her room and suddenly, dark eyes were staring up at her. “Rey,” Kylo breathed. Rey began withdrawing her hand from his cheek and gasped as Kylo stopped her. He held her hand in place and began running his thumb over the back of her hand and closed his eyes. He leaned into her touch as if at any moment she would be gone. Rey stared at his content face, reveling in the peace and quiet of the moment. She admitted that he was beautiful, but seeing him so content in contrast to his usual demeanor was something else to Rey. 

After a few moments passed, Rey brought her other hand to cup his other cheek and leaned down without speaking a word. She brought her lips to meet his forehead for a long moment and once she sat up again, she saw his wide brown eyes stare up at her and his cheeks a hint of pink. It was a moment like this that Rey craved in her life. All she wanted was someone to kiss her on the forehead and reassure her of her nightmares. At that moment, Rey felt that Kylo needed it too. 

Rey smiled and ran a hand through his hair once and began withdrawing. “Sleep well, Ben,” as soon as she slipped from his grasp and stood, he began reaching out for her again and he began to fade from her sight. Rey felt a slight drop in her heart and sighed. 

“Goodnight Ben,” she whispered as she retreated back to her own bed and slid under the covers. The fear from before was replaced with the familiar loneliness she’d suffered growing up.


End file.
